Pushing open the greenhouse door, Sean was sure his heartbeat sped up.
What if Professor Sprout wasn't here?
What if she'd already finished with the venomous fangs?
What if—
The moment those thoughts surfaced, Sean shoved them aside.
Because he saw her: the plump professor, working away in the greenery.
"Professor Sprout."
Sean broke into a trot, his voice carrying a rare ripple of excitement.
"Welcome, Mr Green,"
Professor Sprout greeted him warmly.
"Come along now, we've got some special ingredients to handle today."
Sean's trot became a full-on run, as if he were afraid she'd vanish if he blinked.
"Oh my,"
the plump witch chuckled, reaching up to lift a trailing vine so he wouldn't smack his head on it.
Professor Sprout walked ahead with a light, almost bouncy step,
leading Sean once more through the now-familiar bubble-pod section.
"Our lovely Bubble Pods are almost ripe. Once those pink pods grow a bit bigger, the shiny beans inside will start jumping out all over the place,"
she said with the delight of a farmer eyeing a bumper harvest.
"We need to harvest the beans before they hop down on their own, or this greenhouse will be carpeted in pod-flowers."
She pinched one of the pods gently, smiling.
"Would you like to help pick them, Mr Green?"
Sean answered with a firm, "Mm!"
Teacher and student—a big one and a small one—soon arrived at the oak worktable.
Spread across it were all kinds of fangs.
"Every year around this time, I help prepare a few batches of ingredients…
Ah, look at these fangs, solid as stone. Mr Green, do you know the difference between them?"
With a wave of her wand, several fangs floated up in front of Sean.
They were sharp, gleaming, and faintly menacing—and yes, not quite identical.
"Venomous fangs have tiny grooves on the inside."
Sean studied them for a while before answering.
"Exactly,"
Professor Sprout's brows rose in mild surprise.
"Very observant."
As she spoke, a mortar and pestle floated into Sean's hands.
"Try grinding them, Mr Green."
Sean didn't hesitate. Grinding was the easy part.
Especially when the pestle itself seemed to be enchanted—
Sean suspected some kind of crushing charm—it made the process much faster.
Professor Sprout watched him work for a moment, then flicked her wand again.
Ten mortars and pestles on the table all began working at once.
"For a proper Awakening Draught, we need the powder a bit finer than this—but for Boil-Cure Potion, this texture will do nicely,"
she explained.
At her cue, Sean set his pestle down. He'd already finished ten portions.
Not too slow, he thought—
Then he saw the ten other mortars grinding away in perfect unison.
…Right. Wizards really were disgustingly efficient.
Sean didn't dwell on it. Instead, he carefully memorised the texture of the ground fangs, and tried to spot any visual difference between venomous and non-venomous powder.
Unfortunately, he couldn't see one.
"Oh, Mr Green."
Professor Sprout laughed when she saw him with his nose practically buried in the powder. Her hat tilted slightly as she smiled.
With another wave of her wand, the powder neatly poured itself into different coloured glass vials:
The venomous fangs went into pale red glass.
The harmless ones into clear white.
Sean suddenly understood.
"Judging by the angle of that sunflower, it's time for you to get going, Mr Green."
Professor Sprout tapped her fingers lightly in a little farewell gesture.
Only then did Sean realise an hour and a half had slipped by.
He hurriedly bid her goodbye, only pausing to ask, very quietly:
"Professor… may I come back this afternoon?"
"Of course. The greenhouse is always open to children who love the earth and its gifts."
So Sean turned and pushed the greenhouse door open again.
That afternoon, Ravenclaw had its first joint Transfiguration lesson with Gryffindor.
Sean had no desire to be turned into a pocket watch or a map,
so he quickened his pace.
As he walked, he opened his panel:
[Herbology Insight: Locked (59/90)]
[Three Apprentice-level Herbology skills can unlock the Herbology (Apprentice) title]
Right. Fang processing doesn't count as Herbology,
Sean thought, continuing downwards.
[Levitation Charm: Apprentice (4/300)]
[Scouring Charm: Apprentice (70/300)]
[Wand-Lighting Charm: Initiate (19/900)]
Lumos had already reached Initiate level.
Sean lit his wand—the glow was noticeably brighter than at Apprentice level,
and the spell came faster, easier, almost instinctively.
But to recreate that blinding light from Charms class…
he'd need to deliberately build up his emotions again.
And even then, there was no guarantee it would work.
He'd already tried several times in the classroom. The light never got quite that bright again.
The Transfiguration classroom was on the second floor, not far from Professor McGonagall's office.
When he walked in, the first thing he saw was a medium-length brown desk,
and behind it—a chair from the Broomflower dynasty.
An antique.
Hogwarts really is loaded, Sean thought.
Then he spotted Michael looking tortured.
Sitting beside him was a dark-haired girl, and Michael looked torn between greeting Sean and staying put.
Sean shook his head and slid into the seat beside Hermione instead.
There was an empty chair beside her and a cage on the desk—inside, a squeaking rat.
Even in a paired-seat classroom, the spot beside Hermione was always mysteriously vacant.
"Sean, did you see the tabby cat on the desk? She's adorable."
Sean looked up. A silver-grey tabby cat was sitting primly on the front desk.
"Mm."
He nodded.
While they spoke, the sound of the door creaking open echoed from behind.
Harry and Ron stumbled in, flushed and frazzled.
They were already three minutes late.
Hermione glanced back once, then pursed her lips and shook her head.
"We made it,"
Ron said in relief.
"If we'd been any later, Professor McGonagall's face would've killed us."
Watching them hover awkwardly in the aisle instead of sitting down, Sean knew they weren't going to get away with it.
The tabby cat leapt off the desk—
—and transformed mid-air into a tall witch.
She wore deep green robes and tilted her head slightly as she stared at Ron.
Ron's eyes went wide. He pressed his lips together in a tight line, expression clearly reading:
Harry, do you think we're going to survive this?
"That was brilliant,"
Ron blurted, trying to bluff his way out.
"Thank you for the compliment, Mr Weasley,"
Professor McGonagall said crisply.
"Perhaps I ought to transfigure you and Mr Potter into a pair of pocket watches. Then at least one of you might finally learn to keep track of the time."
"We got lost."
"In that case, a pair of maps would be more appropriate. Surely you don't need a map to find your seats?"
Laughter rippled quietly through the classroom.
"Two points from Gryffindor."
Professor McGonagall added coolly.
Sean watched Hermione shoot Harry and Ron another speechless look.
Gryffindors… living up to their reputation, he thought.
"Transfiguration is, without question, the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts,"
Professor McGonagall said sternly.
"Anyone foolish enough to fool around in my class will leave—and never be allowed back. You have been warned."
With that, she lifted her wand.
The desk in front of her morphed into a pig trotting around the classroom—
then, with another flick, changed back again.
Every pair of eyes in the room shone.
They all wished they could start learning right now.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon